1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for discriminating a recording medium type used for a recording apparatus, a recording apparatus equipped with this discrimination apparatus, and a method for discriminating a recording medium type.
2. Related Background Art
Output apparatuses of various types, such as an electrophotographic type, a wire dot-type and an ink-jet type, are provided as output apparatuses for a printing system that forms images by attaching color toner or colored ink to the recording face of a recording media, and then discharges the image bearing recording medium.
For example, since the ink-jet type, which ejects ink from a recording head directly onto a recording medium, requires a smaller number of steps to form an image on a recording medium, its operating costs are low, it is appropriate for color recording, and it produces less noise while performing a recording operation. Therefore, in wide markets, ranging over business use to home use, attention has been drawn to the ink-jet type, and recently, it has tended to be adopted and used for many output apparatuses, such as recording apparatuses (printers), facsimile machines and copiers.
These recording apparatuses detect information concerning recording media that are to be employed, and perform recording operations based on the detection results.
A conventional method for discriminating a recording medium type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H6-015861. According to this method, a recording medium is irradiated by light, and the light regularly reflected by the recording medium is measured. With this arrangement, since individual recording media have different glosses because their surface roughnesses differ, depending on their types, gloss data obtained by measuring the regular light reflected by a recording medium are compared with previously stored threshold values to prepare a one-dimensional configuration for the intensity of regular reflected light, and the recording medium type is identified.